Inside Photoshop

Create 3 dynamic backdrops from scratch with Lighting effects

by Amy Gebhardt

The Lighting Effects filter can create an endless number of backdrops for your imagery. Whether you need a traditional studio background, a lighted stage, or an underwater utopia, you can set the scene in Photoshop without a lot of work. We’ll show you how to create a series of funky backdrops from scratch, so the next time you have a product or image that needs a proper backdrop, you won’t have to worry about finding the right image. You can simply make it yourself!

A studio background

To begin, we’ll create a backlit studio scene, like the one shown in Figure A. Backgrounds such as this have been used for numerous advertisements over the years, as well as for portrait and product shots. First, we’ll create the background, and then we’ll add the flat surface.

A

To create a studio background:

Create a new 4.5" x 6" 200 ppi RGB document.

Fill the Background with a dark color of your choice. We used a dark blue with R-G-B coordinates of 32-45-99, respectively.